


The Substitute

by strawberrylace



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Tumblr Prompt, sorry i can't come up with a better summary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-21 20:21:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18146984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberrylace/pseuds/strawberrylace
Summary: Tony Stark needs someone to fill in for his chemistry class while he goes away on a much needed vacation. Enter the dashingly handsome Steve Rogers to help out.I’m a stressed out teacher and you just happen to be the super hot substitute filling in for me during my vacation au





	The Substitute

**Author's Note:**

> i got inspired after going down a bit of a rabbithole of Marvel movies, and drawing my own inspiration of constantly being stressed out. Hope you all enjoy!

It was next to impossible for Tony Stark to get excited about his upcoming vacation. It's not to say that he wasn't deserving of it. He really was. Tony couldn't think of the last time he took a long, proper vacation. His friends thought he had all this time off during the summer but they couldn't have been more wrong. For a high school chemistry teacher, a vacation was almost nonexistent.

Which was why Tony's friend Bruce took it upon himself to plan a vacation for him. 

"It's for your own good," said Bruce, scrolling through travel sites one night in their apartment. "I think the last time you've been on any vacation was that time we went to Panama City Beach for our spring break in college." 

"It hasn't been that long!" Tony argued. "Two years ago I went to Vegas for that bachelor party. That's a vacation, right?" 

"Thus proving my point that you never take time off for yourself, only for everyone else."

Bruce did make a valid point. Tony couldn't really remember a whole lot about that trip to Vegas, and it wasn't because of the alcohol but rather how much he spent stressing over the fact that he was taking time away from work. It had been ages since Tony actually relished the time that he took off. While he went away for the expense of his friends and loved ones, it was never truly about him. Perhaps now really was the time to take a vacation. Tony had a couple of places he had in mind of going. He'd never been to the Northwest and had always wanted to go to Portland. So with Bruce's help, Tony booked his first vacation in years. He was feeling quite proud of himself, finally taking time for himself. If only he had looked at the week he booked it more carefully.

There was no use in rescheduling his vacation at this point. That would be just another headache and a half Tony couldn't afford to have. Still, he couldn't believe he scheduled his vacation a week before spring break. On a week of a test, nonetheless. Tony was still going to go on his trip but now there was the matter of what he was going to do about finding a substitute. No one in the science department was able to sub for him, so he had to think outside the box. Bruce knew a guy who would be happy to help but Tony was still hesitant. There were things that needed to be done while he was gone so Bruce arranged for them to meet after school hours.

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It was nearly four on an unseasonably brisk March afternoon and Tony was grading the last of the pop quizzes at his desk. He agreed to meet with Bruce's friend, Steve, at this time so that they could discuss what needs to be done while Tony was out. Tony had heard about him but had never formally met the guy. He was quite popular with the students and faculty alike. He was smart, charming, and ridiculously good looking from what he had heard from the science department. The kids seemed to like him a lot which was a huge plus. When Bruce suggested that Steve should teach, Tony was a little apprehensive about just letting anyone else teach his class. Tony had every laid out to a T, including study guides and tests. But after much begging, Tony gave in. After all, should anything go wrong, the blame wouldn't be placed on Tony, would it? Plus, he really needed to stressing himself out this much with merely days away from his vacation.

"Tony?" 

Tony looked up from his quizzes to see a man leaning against the door frame, holding two coffees and a brown paper bag. He looked pretty tall from where he was standing, with his short blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and dressed as if he stepped out of a movie set in the forties. He had heard that he was handsome, but not this ridiculously handsome, and now this was making Tony nervous. Why didn't Bruce say that he was cute, Tony thought to himself as he silently swore under his breath. 

"Yes?" Tony barely squeeked out. 

"Steve!" he introduced himself, walking over to Tony's desk. "Looks like I'll be subbing for you next week." 

Tony just nodded as Steve set down the two coffees and the bag on Tony's desk, pulling a chair up in front. He scanned the last pop quiz he was grading and scribbled an illegible "B" on the front.

"Sorry for the mess," said Tony, trying to clear some of his papers out of the way and make room for the work book he had for next week. "This here," he gestured, "is pretty much representative of my state of being at the moment." 

Steve chuckled, not knowing that Tony was being serious. "Bruce told me you liked caramel machiatos so I got you one." Steve pushed the coffee cup closer to Tony. "I also got you a blueberry scone, if you want one!" 

Tony reached into the bag for a scone. It was nice and warm, just the way that he liked them. The last thing he ate was a sad excuse of a salad for lunch so the coffee and scone were a very nice touch. "I don't know if Bruce told you anything, but I'm going to Nashville all next week. I know, our spring break is the week after but clearly I wasn't paying attention when I booked my trip. My mind has been all over the place." 

Steve nodded intently. "Do you want to talk about it? You seem like you're stressed out."

Tony sighed. He had no time to really go over his life problems with someone he just met. It'd make him sound so desperate. But here was this guy, coming in with coffee and everything, and he's offering an ear to listen. Maybe it would be nice to talk to someone. 

"It's the first vacation I've had in a long time," said Tony. "I mean, I've gone away before, but never really taken a proper vacation. I don't know why I do this to myself. I mean, I like my job, the kids are great, but it can be exhausting at times. When I do start to think about, maybe a little getaway would be nice, I then begin to feel guilty about it, you know?" 

Steve listened patiently. "Yeah, Bruce did mention that you haven't been on a vacation in forever. Everyone deserves some time off every now and then and you shouldn't feel guilty about taking the time to reset, turning yourself off for a few days. It's going to be fine while you're gone! Don't beat yourself up over scheduling it on the wrong week, the kids will understand." 

"Yeah?" Tony nodded, looking back at his workbook. "I'm just slightly freaking out over the fact that I had a test scheduled for next week and I can't push it back while I'm gone. I had it all planned out in my book." 

"You have nothing to worry about," Steve smiled, patting the workbook. "It's tough when you have things planned out so perfectly and one little thing has to throw your balance but, it'll be fine! Whatever you planned for your class, I will follow this book carefully and when you get back, you'll still be on track with your plan for the rest of the year." 

"You mean that?" 

"Yeah, I just want to make things easy for you while you're gone."

Tony smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, that'd be great." 

Afterwards, the two of them talked more about what needed to be covered while Tony was out, the test and study guide, and a few places that Tony needed to go to while he was in Nashville. Tony felt some sort of relief about going away and perhaps it was because of how chill Steve was as they continued to talk. He couldn't help but find himself more and more attracted to Steve the more he learned about him. By then, it was almost five thirty. Neither of them could believe how much they lost track of time. They finished their coffees and soon were on their separate ways. 

As they were walking to their cars, Steve slipped a small piece of paper to Tony with his number on it. "For when you get back from Nashville," said Steve. Tony was flattered, for he had a nice chat with Steve and was now feeling so much better about going away. Something about his presence was so warm and inviting and suddenly, all the stress that Tony kept thinking about seemed to subside. He couldn't wait to tell Steve all about his trip. Perhaps he could bring him back a nice little souvenir during his vacation.


End file.
